


Black Lines

by thisfrailheart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, blink-and-you'll-miss-it-drarry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 15:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15512400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisfrailheart/pseuds/thisfrailheart
Summary: Unexpected revelations during an Auror mission on a hot summer's day.





	Black Lines

It happened on their third stake-out as partners, about half an hour after their last cooling charm had worn off. 

They’d been standing around in the old shed for two hours now, keeping a watchful eye on the old house in the connecting garden. It was neither a big nor extremely dangerous operation, but feelings were already running high. And not just because they were two very different people, no. It was mostly because it was a hot day and the shed, only housing gardening shears and plant pots, wasn’t insulated. It was barely a shed at all, looking more like a preschooler’s art project than anything else.

Harry had already cast one cooling charm but didn’t dare cast another. Protocol dictated to use as little magic as possible so as not to alert anybody to their whereabouts in case someone was tracking magical signatures. Not to mention that they wanted to keep their energy levels high since constant casting could potentially be draining. He was, however, apparently more accustomed to heat than his partner, who seemed to be doing quite badly. As soon as Harry’s charm had worn off, Malfoy had cast another, taking a relieved breath as their environment cooled down. 

“We can’t keep doing that, you know,” Harry said, unbuttoning his robes and taking them off. He folded them and put them on the ground.

Malfoy simply stared straight ahead.

“Listen, I’m not trying to be mean. In fact, I think I’ve been doing rather well, considering I don’t especially like you.” 

Malfoy scoffed. “Well, Potter, I ‘don’t especially like you’ too, but I sure am curious to find out what that has to do with anything.”

“It’s obviously part of the ‘I’m not trying to be mean’ bit, Malfoy, _keep up_ ,” Harry answered, rolling his eyes. “It’s because of the protocols. We can’t keep using magic.”

“I am aware of that, Potter. However, I’d rather be comfortable for a few minutes before I inevitably die of heatstroke. And in some dilapidated shed, at that.” He sighed.

“You’re not going to die, Malfoy. Stop being so dramatic.” Harry thought if he kept rolling his eyes like this, they might just roll right out of his skull. 

“And will  _ you _ stop telling me to stop being dramatic? It’s quite annoying,” Draco said.

“Look, I can see you’re not doing well-“

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Potter.”

“My pleasure, Malfoy,” Harry said with the fakest smile he could muster. “But in all honesty… I can see the heat is bothering you. Just do what I did and take off your ro-”

“No!” Malfoy had answered with such force that Harry actually turned his head to look at him for a moment instead of the house they were supposed to be observing. He frowned, taking in Malfoy’s demeanor. The blonde seemed even more uncomfortable now and Harry assumed the heat wasn’t the culprit this time. But why would Malfoy be so adamant about this? Malfoy had always been known to try and make himself comfortable if he got the chance, so what was keeping him from that now? It couldn’t be fear of indecency, could it? After all, they were wearing clothes underneath their robes. That was all part of their protective gear. So it must be something else, Harry thought. But what would make Malfoy so uncomfortable that he’d rather sit there drenched in sweat than take off his robes and-

“The mark doesn’t bother me, if that’s what this is about,” Harry offered, finally having come to the only possible conclusion.

“It’s not the mark, Potter, now can we please drop the subject and get back to our jobs? You know, the reason why we’re actually here?” Malfoy hissed and Harry gave in. 

If the git wanted to sweat to death he definitely wouldn’t stand in his way. Although the paperwork would probably be hell, Harry thought with a smile. He then realized that the cooling charm was slowly wearing off and amused himself with the thought that hell couldn’t possibly be any worse than this.

 

“Merlin’s beard, fine!” Malfoy growled about 29 minutes and 42 seconds later and began unbuttoning his robes. 

And even though Harry was surprised that Malfoy was actually giving in, he wasn’t at all shocked. It was scorching in the little shed. He heard Malfoy pull off his robes and just throw them on the ground behind him. Shocked that Narcissa Malfoy’s son would abandon decorum like that, he looked over at his partner but he was not prepared for the sight that greeted him.

One might have thought it was the look of resignation that had thrown Harry off. Or seeing Malfoy in a short-sleeved shirt. Or the weird, fluttery feeling in his stomach when he saw that Malfoy was actually quite toned for an aristocrat. But it was something else entirely.

Malfoy’s left arm was fully covered in tattoos. The artwork began at his wrist and wrapped around his fore- and upper arm, almost like vines made out of black ink. Harry tried to figure out what the little dots meant and why they were connected by lines and why that one, the one right below the elbow, looked so familiar. Malfoy, still resigned to the situation, didn’t even step back when Harry took a step towards him. He was on a quest to find out what significance these dots had and why Malfoy would choose to carry them on his skin forever. Especially after his last tattoo robbed him of almost everything. And as Harry stared at the dots he realized they weren’t dots at all. They were stars and the lines turned them into-

“Sirius!” Harry breathed. He almost wanted to reach out and touch the constellation.

“Canis Major, technically, but yes,” Malfoy answered, but kept his gaze forward.

“But-“ Harry broke off. He’d wanted to ask Malfoy why, but then he recognized another constellation and another one after that. Reaching out, he took hold of Malfoy’s wrist, turning over his hand with careful fingers to see the constellations that were wrapping around his partner’s arm. Andromeda. Leo. Hydra. 

“Potter,” Malfoy warned softly.

“The tapestry,” Harry whispered, letting go of Malfoy’s arm. “They all got burned off the tapestry. Or would’ve, I’m sure,” Harry added with a last look at Leo.

“Yes.” Malfoy gave a little nod. “And for doing the right thing, too. I, on the other hand…”

“Hey, you did what you had to!” Harry threw in.

“But did I really?” Malfoy answered and turned his head to look Harry in the eye, if only for a second. Turning back towards the window he said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. What did matter was the monstrosity on my arm that made me contemplate skinning myself alive. I hated that he’d left a mark on me. Even though it faded I could still see the black lines, could still feel it burning under my skin. But there was nothing to be done about that. I couldn’t make it go away. I could only try and make it better. So I decided to borrow some defiance. Carrying them with me-“, Malfoy lifted his arm a little, “-reminds me that I have choices. Even though they might be hard choices to make.” Malfoy fell silent after that.

After Malfoy had spoken, nobody said anything for a long while. They just kept standing there, side by side, staring out the window, willing somebody or something to move in the other house. Harry was almost certain that Malfoy had never been so open about anything in his life. Not with him, even though they had been partners for some time, and not with anybody else at the Ministry. Possibly not even with his friends. And Harry understood that completely. He’d never been taught to talk about his feelings either. He’d only recently begun being more open about what he had gone through, was going through. Still, he wasn’t quite sure how to approach the situation. In the end, he decided to go with something simple, although he hoped it would be meaningful.

“Thank you.”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a little smile on Malfoy’s lips.

“And…about what I said earlier-“, Harry said quietly, “I don’t especially  _ dislike _ you, either.”

Just at that moment, they heard the sharp crack of apparition and as they sprinted out of the shed and towards the sound, Harry could’ve sworn he saw Malfoy's little smile from earlier grow into a grin.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to my amazing beta Nicki who has to deal with my bad punctuation skills all the time. <3 (go read her stuff, it's at ForeverShippingJohnlock)


End file.
